Events to recognize veterans across area

Veterans across the area will find speeches, flag displays and programs in their honor Monday for Veterans Day. But some area communities have gone a step further in paying tribute to those who have served.

The Floyd County Veterans Memorial started as a 4-H Citizenship project for Skyler Cornelius, 16. About 16 months later, the fruits of his labor will be on display on the courthouse lawn.

The memorial's dedication service will begin at 1:30 p.m. and feature: a flyover from Sheppard Air Force Base at Wichita Falls; Floydada and Lockney school bands; Wayland Baptist University buglers; and a color ceremony by Altus Air Force Base personnel.

Texas Speaker of the House Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, and Major General USAF (Ret) Robert E. Dempsey will speak as well.

Childress County veterans will honor their fallen comrades on Veterans Day by dedicated the first monolith of the Childress County 20th Century Veterans Memorial at 10 a.m. Monday at the north lawn of the Childress County courthouse

The ceremonies will move inside to the district courtroom on the third floor of the courthouse if the weather is bad, said Childress County Judge Gene Currie, chairman of the Childress County 20th Century Veterans Memorial.

Organizers plan 18 additional monoliths, with nine on each side of the main monolith set for dedication Monday.

"When elections come up, it should remind us that their sacrifices are the reason we have the freedom to vote and the freedom we have to go where we want to go," Currie said.

Currie, 67, said that he and others in the county simply felt the time for a monument for veterans in Childress County had come.

"I had an uncle (Joe Harrison of Gorman) who was my hero during World War II. He used to take us fishing and hiking," Currie said.

The U.S. Marine Corps uncle's last letter remains etched in Currie's mind to this day.

"In his last letter, he asked how the crops were doing and how was the hunting and fishing? He said they were fixing to go hunting the next day (for the enemy). He was killed the next day," Currie said.

The judge said the committee was $85,000 short of its $125,000 goal to complete the memorial.

"I'm not worried about that," Currie said. "It's going to happen. We've had donations from far away as Australia. We've had money come in from Alaska and Hawaii and all over the nation."

Other communities having Veteran's Day activities include:

Boise City, Okla.: United Service Organizations (USO) party for all military veterans, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Canadian: Veterans are invited to eat at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Canadian Elementary School.

Clarendon: Veterans Day ceremony, 11 a.m. Monday at Donley County War Memorial on the courthouse square.

Clovis, N.M.: Service for World War II veteran receiving a military headstone, 2 p.m. Sunday at the Mission Garden of Memories. A military contingency from Cannon Air Force Base will be present.

Dimmitt: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 8056 will sponsor a Veterans Day breakfast at 7 a.m. at the post, followed by a program at 7:30 a.m. and a flag presentation at 8 a.m.; Dimmitt High School will sponsor a program at 12:15 p.m. in the school auditorium.

Plainview: Veterans program, 10 a.m. Monday at the Fair Theater, featuring Army Air Force and Marine honor guards, invocation, patriotic songs, a speaker and special recognition of World War II and Vietnam veterans.

Spearman: Veterans day program, 10 a.m. in the varsity gym.

Stinnett: Veterans program, 9:20 a.m. Monday, West Texas High School.

Stratford: 10 a.m. Monday at Stratford High School.

Tulia: Veterans breakfast, 6 a.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall; Veterans Day program, 1 p.m. at the Dallas Street gym near the junior high.

Wellington: Veterans program, 9:30 a.m. Monday, Wellington High School auditorium, followed by refreshments; Veterans program, 11 a.m. Monday, at the veterans memorial at the south side of the courthouse square.

White Deer: Veterans program 9 a.m. Monday at high school, World War II veteran speaker and music featured.